Nice! Great to have a friend willing to help. Please tell me more about the thruster, I have not seen one like that before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dimer2

Looks great Peter! I too am interested in that thruster. A bow thruster has always been a problem on a 4788 as the water tank sits in the way.

The thruster is an Exturn Yacht Thruster Duplex; Exturn is a division of Side-Power/Marrinco. Basically, instead of a pair 8-10" holes in the bow, this unit requires 2 2" holes and 4 3/4" holes. We did the physical install in 1 day, and I did the electrical before we hauled out (2 group 31 Optimas, a dedicated charger, and requisite wiring).

It's quiet, and has a 5 minute continuous run time.

Best of all, total for all including haulout was under $7k; I got a smoking deal off Amazon on a new old stock unit.

I did much research on the Duplex, and spent much time on those pages you reference- as well as many more. Many hours were spent on the phone with Exturn discussing the different thruster types (Exturn offers both internal and external thrusters). We also weighed the pros and cons of traditional vs external thruster- specifically, I looked for real empirical data on significant failure rates and strike damage.

As we travel at hull speed, I'm not worried about the requirement for the unit to be out of the water at 15+ knots.

I found none. Lots of speculation, hearsay, and opinions, but no overwhelming hard data. I found it interesting that I received the most negative opinions from (1) those who didn't know anything about external thrusters and (2) installers of traditional thrusters. The owners I spoke to had glowing reviews, and the yard guys I talked to during the install were curious and supportive.

I did speak to a local used who installed the Simplex 3 years ago on a Bayliner 38- he has had no failures, no strikes, and the unit has performed flawlessly.

I did much research on the Duplex, and spent much time on those pages you reference- as well as many more. Many hours were spent on the phone with Exturn discussing the different thruster types (Exturn offers both internal and external thrusters). We also weighed the pros and cons of traditional vs external thruster- specifically, I looked for real empirical data on significant failure rates and strike damage.

As we travel at hull speed, I'm not worried about the requirement for the unit to be out of the water at 15+ knots.

I found none. Lots of speculation, hearsay, and opinions, but no overwhelming hard data. I found it interesting that I received the most negative opinions from (1) those who didn't know anything about external thrusters and (2) installers of traditional thrusters. The owners I spoke to had glowing reviews, and the yard guys I talked to during the install were curious and supportive.

I did speak to a local used who installed the Simplex 3 years ago on a Bayliner 38- he has had no failures, no strikes, and the unit has performed flawlessly.

I'm glad it's you who is being the sounding board here. Given your profession, I would have thought you would do the kind of in-depth research you did. That is reassuring and valuable.

As you mention, real hard data is difficult to find and even the install info is not as clear as it could be. In the link below they say over 15 knots it must be out of the water yet the maximum driving speed for use of the thruster is 35 knots.http://www.yachtthruster.com/uploads..._4_1%20LOW.pdf